Choose {Five Minute Friday}

Oh happy day, happy day! I can finally share with you news that is burning a hole inside me! This one took a little bit longer than 5 minutes, as there are a few things at the bottom I’m asking you to pray for. So happy to be here on another Thursday night sharing with you for Five Minute Friday. This community, this tribe…it is something too special for words, yet we keep on writing just the same.

Months ago I sat in a worship service and listened to a girl talk about Haiti.

She spoke timid, maybe from nerves, but she spoke passionately. I wanted to support her and be a part, but I didn’t feel God calling me to take any steps forward and so I stayed still. My plate was more than overflowing and finding time to breathe each day was a struggle enough.

Fast forward two months and I couldn’t stop thinking about this girl and Haiti and the organization she spoke of, S.A.V.E. – Sustain A Village Everyday.

Seemingly out of the blue I couldn’t get this country and this organization off my mind right around the same time God laid on my heart a deep desire to go on a mission trip for Spring Break.

After returning to campus I contacted the girl so passionate about Haiti, and much to my surprise there was an opening for me to join them over Spring Break! Without knowing what we would be doing, how much it cost, or even when we would leave, I basically signed on the dotted line. I went from meeting the team for the first time at 10am to buying plane tickets to Haiti at 4pm all in one day.

It’s unlike me, to choose to risk without knowing if there’s a net to catch me. I am a girl who needs to plan ahead and make two dozen checklists, highlighted and categorized. I need all the details upfront and then maybe – maybe – I’ll feel ready to jump.

I can’t explain it, but I took a leap of faith and just kept stepping each time He said move and now I’m going to Haiti!

I don’t feel like I’m falling – I feel like I’m flying.

The best part is, there’s absolutely no reason why I should be so excited. Honestly. My heart is in Jamaica from previous trips and there’s nothing waiting for me in Haiti.

Except that there is… and I just don’t know what it is yet. That thought alone thrills me!

I know He has something there for me and I truly can’t wait to hop on a plane and get there, to serve and be His hands and feet.

There are so many unknowns, and typically that would scare me big time. I may not know where the finances will come from and I don’t know what God has for me in Haiti, but I feel a peace about going and I know He has something in store. He keeps reminding me that I simply need to show up and He will show off.

I choose to go. I choose to love and risk and stay open when closing up would be easier. I choose to be me with a group of strangers and to be all there, present in the present.

I choose to follow. I choose to take the next step blindly and to simply wait for the next moment He tells me to move. I choose to obey.

I choose to listen. I choose to wait patiently and excitedly. I choose to believe He knows what is best and holds every unanswered question or unthought of detail in His very capable hands.

I choose to go. I choose to be used. I choose to invite you along. I choose the One who saw Haiti in my future way back on a cold Fall night in a packed worship service when all I could think about was my to-do list. I choose Him who saw that same girl throwing the to-do list away and jumping at the chance to simply go and serve.

I choose to fly.

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SA.V.E. was founded in 2011 by six high school students and is a student-led organization seeking to give impoverished villages the resources to provide for themselves. Currently, they’re focusing on Boukeron, Haiti, a small village with about 3,000 residents. The average income per person in Boukeron is $100 US dollars per year.

Through raising money and providing resources, S.A.V.E. has been spreading the Gospel. Their goal isn’t to merely feed the village but to provide Boukeron with resources to sustain their own economy, while sharing the love of Jesus with them.

Will you please pray for me and my team as we prepare to leave for Haiti? We will be flying out of Atlanta on Thursday, March 20 and returning to the U.S. the following Thursday. Unlike all other mission trips I’ve been on before, we won’t be running a week-long camp or working at a build site. Instead, this trip is more relationally driven.

We’ll spend time with local college students, put on a VBS for Haitian children, assist with a weekly clinic, teach an English class for college students, teach classes in a preschool, and tour the work already being done in Boukeron with S.A.V.E..

If you feel led, please be praying for these specific things: